Recently, plasma oncostatin, a member of the interleukin-6 (IL-6) cytokine family whose expression in the intestinal stroma was shown to be correlated with the presence and severity of inflammation, has emerged as a potential prognostic marker of disease remission in IBD patients undergoing anti-tumour necrosis antagonist (anti-TNF) therapy [141,142]. Here, IL6 is linked to irritable bowel syndrome.